On the Road to Imladris
by KAH617
Summary: Legolas is traveling from Mirkwood to Rivendell when he meets Aragorn for the first time.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: I am clearly not Tolkien. I do love his characters though. Here's a version of how Legolas and Aragorn met.**** Operating under the assumption that 1. Legolas and Aragorn have been friends for many years-this is how they met. 2. Aragorn grew up in Rivendell considering Lord Elrond like a father figure (Ada) and his 2 sons Elrohir and Elladan as his brothers. **

On the Road to Imladris

Chapter 1

Legolas breathed deeply, taking a moment to enjoy the woods he was in. The air was much cleaner and freer here than in Mirkwood. He grimaced as he thought of home, he had been sent to Rivendell to ask for better medicines to heal their warriors faster. He also thought his father secretly wanted him to spend some time away from the fighting. He was alone on this journey because he had managed to convince his father, the king, that he would be less likely to be noticed as just 1 traveler than he would be in a large emissary group and honestly, Mirkwood could not spare the warriors. Legolas was about 2 days away from Imladris. He had already been travelling for almost a month and he was certainly ready to arrive.

He decided to take a rest next to a stream and stepped down off his horse to take a drink. As he drank, he listened as the woods around him became very quiet. Even this close to the elven haven, a silent forest never boded well. Legolas left his horse by the tree and went to investigate. He kept his ears sharp listening for any hint of what was coming his way and when. He had reached the edge of the line of trees when he saw them.

"Orcs," he muttered under his breath. He estimated their number to be around 50. His hatred of orcs took over his common sense which told him it was unwise to take on a pack of orcs by himself. He began to creep along the edge of the trees, looking for a good one to climb where he would be able to shoot at the orcs, but stay out of sight as long as possible.

Suddenly, Legolas felt hands grabbing him from behind. How had he missed someone or something standing there? He tried to struggle and because he attacker had not been trying particularly hard, he succeeded in drawing an arrow and aiming it at his attacker.

"You better back away, human," Legolas growled and glared at the human who was getting in the way of his attack on the orcs.

The tall man had put himself between Legolas and the edge of the trees. He scoffed and replied, "Oh really? What exactly is your plan here? One elf against 50 orcs?"

"I don't need advice from you, I have been hunting orcs for more years than you have been alive. Now back away or so help me, I will shoot you too!" Legolas whispered impatiently trying his best to be intimidating. He didn't really want to shoot the human, but he was in the way and soon it would be too late to get in a good position.

The man had no desire to be shot by the elf's arrows, so he stepped aside and dramatically showed the elf the way to the trees with a sweeping gesture as if to say _go ahead. _

By the time Legolas had gotten past him, he realized he did not have time to climb a tree as he had hoped. Instead he and the human had to duck behind some bushes as the orc pack began to run by.

The elf had turned to glare at the human when he heard battle cries that did not belong to the orcs. He turned back to see a small group of men, including the one who had been next to him, attacking the orcs from the trees and bushes and quickly overcoming them.

Legolas realized that if the other man had not stopped him, he would have ruined the ambush that had clearly been planned. He paused momentarily before joining in the battle, deciding his hatred of orcs outweighed his momentary irritation with the man.

**AN: Chapter 1 is really short, the next ones are longer. Please rate, review, follow, etc and let me know what you think! The story is done so I'll post pretty quickly. **


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Thanks for reading! Here is chapter 2! **

Chapter 2

Legolas was able to shoot down 3 orcs before one came charging at him. He drew his knives to continue fighting. He was too focused on the charging orc that he did not notice the one coming at him from almost behind him. The second orc managed to slash his side before Legolas was able to kill him as well as the first. He put his hand to his side and noted as it came away bloody. He looked up preparing to fight through it when he noticed the last of the orcs being killed by one of the men.

The men quickly pulled the bodies of the orcs together to burn them. It was then that Legolas noticed that these men were not ordinary men, but Dunedain. This increased Legolas' respect for them, but only slightly. _The may hunt orc now, but I have defended my home against them for millennia. _

The man who had stopped Legolas before came up to him. "Thank you for your help and sorry about before. I'm pretty glad you didn't shoot me," he paused, "Though I don't think my friends would have taken it very well if you had," he grinned at Legolas who simply nodded back at him. It was then that he noticed the small red drop falling from Legolas's hand. "Are you hurt? Here let me help you! I did not realize-" the man reached out to help.

"No, thank you," Legolas said simply, "If you can just give me some bandages and redirect me towards Imladris, I will be on my way." _He must think I'm a child. I can tend to myself. _

The man looked confused and slightly hurt by his refusal, but Legolas did not have time. The sooner he got to Imladris, the sooner he could return home to help his people. He was handed bandages by another Dunadain who called the man "Strider." _What a strange name. _

Strider walked away to talk to the other Dunedain, but Legolas could still hear them.

"Lord Elrond will want to know about these orcs. They are much closer than they have been in a while."

"I will go," Strider volunteered. "Halbarad," he said with a simple nod.

Legolas had awkwardly wrapped the bandage around his wound when Strider came back over to him. He chose not to comment on the elf's bandaging skills, but instead said "Well it seems we have a common destination and with orcs clearly back in the area, we would be safer traveling together; however, before we set out, I would like to know a little more about who I am leading into the safety of Lord Elrond. He works well with us Rangers, so we would not want to take strangers without being sure of their intentions."

"My name is Legolas, I am an emissary sent me to Imladris to retrieve medicine to treat the warriors fighting the increasing number of orcs encroaching on our land," the elf held his head high, though he withheld his full title, just to be safe.

Strider nodded and introduced himself as well, "I am Strider. If King Thranduil has need, the rangers will help see it filled."

Though the Rangers did not go near Mirkwood often, the elf appreciated the sentiment. He was slightly worried about taking the human with him though, He was sure he would only slow him down. The Dunedain called Strider quickly gathered his things and they set out at a much quicker pace than Legolas had anticipated.

As they walked, Strider took the lead, clearly being very familiar with the land. Long before he should have been tired, Legolas began to slow down. He looked down and noticed that blood was seeping through the bandage he had insisted on putting on himself.

Hearing the elf's pace slow, Strider turned back to look at him and also noticed the blood. He had been irritated and hurt by the lack of trust from the elf earlier when he had offered to help. He hesitated to offer help now. "Would you like me to rewrap that for you?" Strider asked trying to keep his tone from sounding condescending.

Legolas grimaced as he touched his side, both from the pain and from the tone of the Dunedain's voice. He had clearly been rude earlier thinking he could tend his own wound. The wood elves were not used to asking for help from others, even other elves, but he nodded his agreement.

Strider dipped his hands in a stream and dried them before gently unwrapping the elf's torso. The wound was still bleeding, but with cleaning and a tight wrapping, it would heal quickly. He reached in his bag for some herbs to prevent infection. "This might hurt a bit," he warned as he tightly wrapped a new bandage around the elf.

"Thank you," Legolas muttered when he was done. It had hurt, but surprisingly less than a wound normally did when his own elf healers tended him.

Strider nodded and asked, "Would you like to take a break or continue?"

Legolas took a deep breath to test his wound with the new wrapping, "I am fine to continue."

As they walked, Legolas was again surprised at the Dunedain's ability to move through the forest with such stealth. It vaguely reminded him of an elf.

Hoping to mend the poor impression he felt he had made, Legolas tried to begin a conversation. "Do you visit Imladris often?" he asked his traveling companion.

Strider smiled and seemed a little lost in memories, "Yes," he replied, "I actually grew up there. I have often wanted to venture to Mirkwood as well. Will you tell me about your home?"

Legolas grinned, appreciating the man's interest in his home, "It is the most beautiful of all woods and the sound of the wind through the trees is pure music. I am sure it would beat even your famed waterfall of Imladris." Here he paused, raised an eyebrow, and snuck at look the man to see how he would take to being teased.

Strider chucked good naturedly, "I am sure a wood elf would think so," he teased back. Looking around added, "Well this is as good a place as any to make camp for the night. We should be able to make it to Imladris by tomorrow afternoon."

They dared not set a fire, though they sat side by side. Legolas was starting to feel the pain from traveling all day and in his side when Strider started the conversation, "Is Mirkwood really struggling that bad?"

As Legolas sighed and being distracted responded, "Yes and no, it is an ongoing battle and more and more warriors are getting hurt. My father was hoping—" he froze as he realized what he had just said. Strider didn't even flinch. "You knew?" Legolas guessed.

"I did, I grew up in the house of Lord Elrond," he reminded him smile a small grin, "I know your name Legolas Greenleaf."

Legolas nodded and realized that Strider must be the adopted human son of Elrond he had heard about. He also felt a bit relieved. He was starting to like this human and though friendships with mortals was difficult due to their shorter lifespans, he liked that he didn't have to try to find a time to reveal his true heritage and risk ruining what could still be a friendship. Before he could ask any more questions, he heard a sound. Though far off in the distance, it was a sound he would know anywhere. "Orcs," he spat in disgust.

Both were on their feet in an instant and moved towards the noise. The found a vantage point from which they could see the orcs. Legolas could feel his disgust towards the creatures growing inside of him and began to raise his bow.

Strider pushed it back down, "Come we can go this way following the river and we will not have to cross them. We can go back to Imladris and bring more warriors to track them down."

Legolas looked at him as if he were crazy, "And risk them getting away? No! We can take them!"

Strider shook his head, "No way, you're already injured. It would be crazy for the two of us to take on all those orcs. We're going to Imladri. We will track them. I promise." He looked straight into the elf's eyes to try to convince him. He was getting angry, he had lost many people to orcs and he wasn't about to lose another in a hopeless and needless battle that they could win when they came back with more support.

Strider turned and began quietly running his chosen direction. He assumed Legolas was following, but when he turned around the elf was nowhere in sight. _Of course, you're stubborn, elf._

**AN: Hope you're enjoying the story! Let me know what you think! I love hearing your thoughts!**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Legolas raced along the tree line quickly notching an arrow as he did so. He didn't care that Strider thought this would be a bad idea. He could not let the orcs who constantly terrorized his people to get away.

He quickly ducked behind a bush and began picking them off one by one. He had taken out 5 orcs when the spotted him. Once they had, Legolas had to draw out his knives to continue the battle. He felt a pull in his side from his previous injury as he fought. Legolas realized he had underestimated the orcs. He was tiring and his side was beginning to ache, but the orcs kept on coming towards him from every direction.

Suddenly he saw another flash of a silver sword as Strider joined the fight. Legolas was impressed with the man's fighting ability which had not noticed the last time they fought together. With two of them fighting, Legolas soon felt stronger and the orcs numbers began to dwindle. As he cut down the last orc, Legolas turned to face the man. As he turned, he was unable to see the one orc who was still fighting death pick up his dagger to throw.

He heard it before he saw it, but when Legolas looked down expecting to feel pain, instead he saw Strider lying in front of him. He had the dagger in his stomach and was already losing blood. Legolas quickly strung his bow and shot the orc dead before bending over to check on the human.

Strider was clearly in pain as he panted for breath asking Legolas to help him back to the trees. The man then asked for his pack and Legolas found it and some bandages to put on the wound once they pulled the dagger out.

"Just do it," Strider said gritting his teeth. He yelled a little as Legolas pulled it out and quickly covered the wound.

Legolas picked up the dagger and looked closely at the blade. He hissed and then looked at the human sadly, "I think it's poisoned."

"Of course, it is," the man groaned, "Wrap it up and put it in the pack. It will be easier for Lord Elrond to find a cure if we have the poison." As he said this, Strider tried to get up from the ground. He leaned heavily on the closest tree and said, "We must hurry on to Rivendell as soon as possible."

Legolas stared at him momentarily stunned at the man's pure willpower to stand and keep moving. Legolas knew what orc poison felt like, and he knew it was worse for the human's body. He also knew he did not have the knowledge needed to save the man and he was right, they did need to get to Imladris, soon. He put Striders arm around his shoulder and the two began walking.

"You shouldn't have done that," Legolas said quietly to the man beside him who was clearly doing worse. Legolas could hear his raspy breaths and feel the heat of a fever.

"Which part the coming back or the saving your life a second time?" Strider grinned, still trying to make a joke.

"Both. You were safe, you should have continued on to Imladris," Legolas looked at the ground in guilt. Strider would not be hurt if he hadn't been so stubborn.

"Look at me," Strider demanded with as much strength as he could muster, "I would not have left you out there to die. Besides, this is just a scratch. I'm fine."

Legolas rolled his eyes at the attempt at a joke, but he knew it was no laughing matter. "Thank you," he said sincerely.

With the injury, they moved much slower. They were getting very close to Rivendell now, but Strider was doing steadily worse. He was putting more and more weight on Legolas before falling down completely.

"Strider? Strider! Stay with me" Legolas called as he poured some water on his face in an effort to cool the man down as well as keep him awake.

Strider struggled to keep his open, "Aragorn," he corrected wanting his friend to know his true name if it would be the last time he ever would, "My name is Aragorn, son of Arathorn"

Legolas raised his eyebrows in surprise knowing now exactly who he held dying. "Hold on, mellon-nin. You have a destiny greater than this."

Hearing the word friend, Aragorn opened his eyes, "Mellon-nin?" he smiled through the delirium, "I am proud to be your friend, prince of Mirkwood."

Legolas tried a few more times to wake Aragorn up, but with no success. He then lifted the man up as gently as he could and moved quickly over the last distance to Imladris. When arrived at the edge of Imladris' woods, he could sense other elves even though he could not see them yet.

"My name is Prince Legolas from Mirkwood, I have Strider of the Dunedain and he is badly injured," he called out hoping the other elves would believe him. He knew how tough the elves protected the edges of Mirkwood and hoped the Imladris elves would be more understanding.

His hopes were well founded as two identical elves immediately came to help him. One took Aragorn from his arms while the other began asking him questions about what had happened.

Aragorn woke up with a headache and a bad pain in his side. He groaned as he tried to sit up and look around him.

"Stay still mellon-nin," he heard a voice say that sounded familiar. Aragorn laid back down and blinked a few times as his eyes adjusted to the light of the room. He realized he was in his room in Rivendell and the voice speaking was his newfound friend from Mirkwood. He smiled slightly when he realized that it meant Legolas had stayed.

"How do you feel?" Legolas asked.

"Like I've been run over by cart," Aragorn replied with a slight grin. "Did our waterfall mystify you enough to convince you to stay instead of going back to your trees?"

Legolas laughed lightly, "Not the waterfall, but just a friend." He paused and grinned before continuing, "Well I _thought_ it was one friend, but imagine my surprise to show up here and they start calling you Estel. I have now known you by 3 different names in a matter of 3 days!"

"What can I say, I'm a man of mystery," Aragorn joked back.

"Well I understand your elvish name, Estel, but _where _did the name Strider come from?" Legolas asked suddenly very curious.

"It's from us," said a voice from the doorway.

"When he was younger, he used to follow us around and have to 'stride' in order to keep up with us," the second elf next to him finished with a grin.

Aragorn grinned back, "It is good to see you brothers. Legolas, these are my brothers Elrohir and Elladan."

'We've known Legolas for many years, Estel, you're the one who is late to the party," Elladan teased.

Elrohir put his hand on Aragorn's shoulder, "It's good to see you again, little brother."

"Rest up, I believe I have a horse race to win once you're better," Elladan added as the brothers left the room.

Aragorn turned his attention back to Legolas, "Thank you for staying. Did you get all the medicines you needed from Ada?"

"I did, though I'm not sure how I'll remember what to do with all of them," Legolas laughed.

"Once you're feeling better, maybe you could go to Mirkwood with Legolas and help him teach them about the medicines," suggested Lord Elrond who had just entered.

Aragorn glanced at Legolas, he knew humans weren't always as welcome in elven territories as he was in Rivendell. Legolas looked hopeful.

Aragorn beamed and said, "I've always wanted to see the great Mirkwood."

**AN: Hope you enjoyed the story! Wondering if anyone noticed how all of chapter 1 Legolas only thought of Aragorn as "that man" or "that human" then he knows him as "Strider" then finally learns his last 2 names. **


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